Lassie, who was among the original 1,550 recipients of Walk of Fame stars when it was dedicated on Feb. 8, 1960, joined him at the ceremony next to the El Capitan Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard. She appeared with Geist in a 2008 story on the Walk of Fame.

Gil Schwartz, CBS’ executive vice president and chief communications officer, was also be in attendance.

Geist has been a correspondent for “CBS News Sunday Morning” since joining CBS News in 1987. He received Emmy Awards for his 1992 report on the 66th anniversary of Route 66 and a 2005 profile on Fred Carl, who started the Viking Range company in Greenwood, Miss., that completely revitalized the small, impoverished town.

Geist also contributed to the since-canceled news magazine “60 Minutes II,” and CBS’ coverage of the 1992, 1994 and 1998 Winter Olympics, the World Series, Super Bowls and NCAA basketball tournaments.

Geist is the best-selling author of seven books: “Fore! Play”; “The Big Five-Oh: Facing, Fearing and Fighting 50”; “Monster Trucks and Hair-In-A-Can — Who Says America Doesn’t Make Anything Anymore?”; “Little League Confidential”; “City Slickers”; “The Zucchini Plague and Other Tales of Suburbia”; and his most recent book, “Way Off the Road,” a collection of stories from “Sunday Morning.”

Before joining CBS News, Geist was a reporter and columnist for the Chicago Tribune from 1972-80 and The New York Times from 1980-87.

Born May 10, 1945, in Champaign, Ill., Geist graduated from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana in 1968 with a degree in communications. He served as a combat photographer with the First Infantry Division in 1969. Geist received a master’s degree in communications from the University of Missouri in 1971.